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The mountaineering community mourns the loss of three of its prominent members: 28-year-old Austrian David Lama, 36-year-old American Jess Rosskelley, and 35-year-old Hansjörg Auer. The trio were attempting to summit 3,295-meter Howse Peak by the technical M16 route up its east face on Tuesday, April 16th when they were reportedly ensnared by an avalanche and carried to their deaths.

According to a Parks Canada representative, the father of Jess, John Rosskelley, alerted the Parks Service on Wednesday morning that the party had failed to check-in the previous evening. Banff personnel launched a helicopter search mission that observed avalanche debris containing climbing equipment. In a media release, Parks Canada said that “Based on the assessment of the scene, all three members of the party are presumed to be deceased.” Due to dangerous avalanche conditions and new snow in the forecast, subsequent investigations and body recovery are delayed until an optimal weather window.

Howse Peak above Chepren Lake in summer. Photo by Wikimedia Commons.

The team had notched Mount Andromeda in the previous fortnight. Howse Peak was their next objective on the spring expedition in the Canadian Rockies. The M16 route was first climbed in 2000, and it involves advanced technical mountaineering expertise. Lama, Rosskelley, and Hansjörg were members of The North Face’s Global Athlete Team and highly-regarded alpinists with the experience and skills required of the M16 route.

A post shared by David Lama (@davidlama_official) on Apr 10, 2019 at 8:08am PDT

Hansjörg Auer was regarded as one of the world’s most talented free solo climbers; he climbed a 37-pitch, 5.12c route in the Italian Dolomites called “The Fish” sans ropes or safety gear. He once said, “There is only one person you will have to bear for the rest of your life: yourself. That’s why being alone is so difficult. Even in the mountains, and not just because of safety. Being alone strips you naked, it makes you understand who you are, what is your value, the things that matter in life”

David Lama rose to prominence as a teenager with big wins in lead climbing and bouldering competitions. In 2012, he made the first free ascent of the “Compressor Route” on Cerro Torre in Patagonia. Last year, Lama summited Lunag Ri, which until his feat was Himalaya’s highest unclimbed mountain.

Spokane, Washington native Jess Rosskelley was the youngest person from North America to summit Mt. Everest when he climbed the mountain with his father in 2003 at age 20. His mountaineering career included first ascents in Alaska and Pakistan. He is survived by his wife, Allison.

The tragedy has not been officially confirmed, but John Rosskelley posted this to a friend’s Facebook page on Thursday regarding his son Jess and his teammates:

“As I write this, I know from speaking with the Park Service and rescue personnel yesterday that Jess, David and Hansjorg are presumed dead. It is with a heavy heart I have to say this, but they were hit by a massive avalanche off Mt. Howse sometime on Tuesday and there was visible evidence they perished. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts.”

The route that Lama, Rosskelley, and Auer were attempting was first completed by Steve House in 1999. Years later, in 2015, House shared the below Facebook post, referring to one of the “hardest pitches” of his life and asking “#Whositgonnabe”

UPDATE: On Friday, Conrad Anker, who was a good friend to David Lama having climber together for years, tweeted the below message.

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Aug 24, 2019

Rhiannan Reigns Supreme: Red Bull Cliff Diving

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It’s official, Rhiannan Iffland is the greatest living female cliff diver on the planet. Minutes ago, she soared from atop the world-famous Mostar Bridge in Bosnia and Herzegovina and landed over 21 meters below with a perfect score.

Undefeated in 2019, Rhiannan has won all seven stops on the Red Bull World Series this year, from El Nido, Palawan to the final stop in Bilbao, Spain. Although today’s competition was the second to last stop on tour, Rhiannan seized her grip on the King Kahekili trophy, her fourth in a row, with an even 1,000 points accumulated over each stop.

The Stari Most is a rebuilt 16th-century Ottoman bridge in the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina that crosses the river Neretva and connects the two parts of the city.

In addition to her seven straight victories, Rhiannan also achieved the first-ever perfect score for a female athlete on her final dive today – four 10’s – which added up to the highest ever competition score for a female athlete.

“To finish on four tens, I’m still pinching myself,” Rhiannan shared in her post-dive interview with Red Bull.

Rhiannan comes up all smiles after she lands a dive on day one of competition.

With her first win at Mostar today, a UNESCO heritage site, Rhiannan can now claim dominance at every stop on tour.

Since entering her first Red Bull competition as a wild card in 2016, Rhiannan has been an absolute force. With this win, Rhiannan proved that she can perform when the pressure is on as well as when she’s earned a victory lap.

Rhiannan Iffland of Australia prepares to dive from the 21 meter platform in Raouche during the final competition day of the fifth stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Beirut, Lebanon on July 14, 2019.

“That wasn’t really running through my mind, the overall series win, but to finish it at the penultimate stop is really special. I came in here this weekend knowing that I’d have to be extra mentally strong and that was my game plan, to dive like I have been diving the rest of the year.”

Even though the first place trophy is all but locked up in her trophy case back home in Newcastle, New South Wales, Rhiannan still has a chance to attain the perfect season with another win at Bilbao on September 14th.

Rhiannan Iffland of Australia poses for a portrait in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on August 2, 2019.

“Halfway through, I started to think about a clean sweep, an undefeated year and that’s now the goal, especially after coming here and achieving this. I think it’s looking pretty good so I’m going to train really hard in the upcoming weeks to Bilbao.”

Rhiannan Iffland dives from the 21 metre platform on Stari Most during the first competition day of the sixth stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina on August 23, 2019.

If you’d like to learn more about Rhiannan’s proud heritage as a native Australian, check out her Rainbow Dive documentary set in the outback.

To follow along with the career and training of such a dominant champion, check out Rhiannan’s social media.